Page 19 of The Alpha's Stolen Mate

Principal Cole started announcing our names to come to the stage and receive our diplomas. Thankfully, Axel's last name started with an “A” so I wasn’t sitting near him. When he shook the principal's hand, he tried to catch my eye, but I looked away.

“Gabriel Boone,” Principal Cole said into the microphone five minutes later, and the entire crowd erupted in applause.

Gabriel strode onto the stage with the confidence I admired, and when he turned to the crowd, his eyes shot to mine. We were a hundred feet away, but that didn't lessen our bond. As we stared at each other, it was like we were the only people in the Whispborn Kingdom. My head spun from our intense connection.

That feeling lasted as I walked up to receive my diploma. In the back of my mind, I registered my parents screaming and Gabriel whistling in the front row. The two steps up to the stage were hard to manage with the insistent pounding in my head. I had tunnel-like vision as I zeroed in on the white, rolled-up diploma in Principal Cole's hands. All I had to do was make it there, then I could talk to Gabriel, and we would fix everything. It didn't matter that there were beads of sweat rolling down my face or that my legs were so heavy it felt like I was trying to walk through quicksand. The edges of my vision blurred, and I had no idea if I was walking toward Principal Cole or away from him.

“Summer are you—”

I didn't hear the end of my principal's sentence.

All I knew was blackness.

***

Oh, I'm dreaming.

This was the first thought that came to me when I opened my eyes and realized I was at the hospital. Periodically, I dreamed about waking up after the Rogue wolf had attacked me. Gabriel was always by my bedside, holding my hand. But he wasn't here now. I leaned forward to look for him, but a gentle hand stopped me.

“Summer, you're at the hospital. Healer Elijah is tending to you,” the pack healer said from above me.

I nodded distractedly. Sometimes he was in my dream, too. But he usually left, and Gabriel would replace his presence. Where was my Mate?

“You were at your high school graduation, and you fainted. Do you remember?”

Healer Elijah's words made the side of my head throb painfully, but I didn't really process them. It didn't matter what he was saying. This was a dream.

Healer Elijah cleared his throat.

“Summer, I have to tell you something that is going to be hard to hear, okay? While you were asleep, I took some blood to run a few simple tests. I think I know the reason why you fainted.”

The serious tone in his voice finally made me look at him. His eyes were wide with concern.

“Am I dying?” I asked.

Was this a dream or a nightmare?

“No, Summer. You're pregnant.”

Chapter Seven: Rumor

Summer POV

“Um, no. That's not possible,” I said blankly to Healer Elijah.

But it was possible, wasn’t it? A month ago, Gabriel and I had sex without a condom. That could lead to a baby. But my brain was having a hard time accepting that I was pregnant.

“Here are the results from the test.” He handed me a piece of paper, and I took it automatically. “I’m sure this is a shock for you, especially waking up to this news after you fainted. But it's important you know this. I want to assure you that I ran the blood test twice. You're pregnant, Summer.”

I wish he would stop saying that.

I blew out a long breath and stared unseeingly at the paper he had given me. It wasn't possible to read any of the words because my hands were shaking.

The gravity of the situation paralyzed me. My head spun, and all the air was sucked out of the room. Tears began to splash down my face onto the piece of paper that was proof that I was pregnant with Gabriel's baby.

I forgot that Healer Elijah was in the room with me as I was transported back to the night Gabriel and I spent together. How he had been so gentle and attentive to my needs. How he had made me feel like I was the only girl in the world.

But we had been careless, hadn’t we? We should have used protection. Now, our relationship was a thousand times more complicated than it had been before. We were so young, still figuring out life. Hell, Gabriel and I hadn’t even been on a real date yet. How were we supposed to raise a child together?

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